If you’ve been following our #MyNFCDay posts, you’ll have seen how the technology is now a real part of everyday life in London and Hong Kong. Now it’s the turn of Chicagoans.

On the final leg of the journey, we’re joined by Cosmo Goss, a chef; Thelonious Martin, a Hip Hop record producer; and Matthew Hoffman, a designer. They take us on an intimate tour of Chicago, all shot on a cold wintry day.

As you’ll see, NFC technology is readily available in the city, and payments are certainly front and center of the experience.

Apple Pay

The U.S. is definitely a pioneer when it comes to mobile payments and NFC. Apple Pay launched here in October 2014 and it has gone from strength to strength. Users can pay using their iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus, as well as the Apple Watch, at over a million merchants across the U.S.

Apple Pay keeps users details safe by encrypting the actual credit and debit card information. And in typical Apple style, paying is simple; users tap their device on the merchant’s reader, and use the Touch ID fingerprint sensor to authenticate the payment.

Android Pay

Available since September 2015, Android Pay is Google’s NFC payment solution that supersedes Google Wallet. Like Apple Pay, it also lets allows fingerprint verification for purchases.

Samsung Pay

Not willing to be left behind, Samsung Pay is also available in the U.S. Its key differentiator is that it comes with a technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission. This useful additional feature means that you can pay on traditional merchant terminals where you swipe your card. While EMV cards are very popular in Europe and many other parts of the world, the U.S. still has these older type terminals. Samsung Pay therefore allows users to pay at much more merchants than the other services.

It’s currently available on the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge Plus, in the U.S. but there are plans to launch in Europe soon. It’s also very popular in Korea with over a million users, and is accepted at 30 million merchants worldwide.